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Rheumatoid Arthritis
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Posted 12/30/2010 9:03 PM (GMT 0)
 I was diagnosed with seronegative RA in October. I have been on prednisone for the last eight weeks and Mtx for Five weeks. My joint pain has been steadily getting worse over this time and i have involvement in almost every joint, but the worse is in my hands, wrists and elbows. I started on 15 mg prednisone in october and felt better for a few days but my rheumy wouldnt let me stay at that dose and has been decreasing my dose and i am now at 7.5 mg and my symptoms are coming back. When i went in in November to see him about starting the mtx i mentioned to him that i was having leg cramps and watery eyes, just wanted to make sure that this was not something to be concerned about, maybe because of the prednisone. He acted very irritated that i would bring up what he called nuisance symptoms. He then told me that he could not start me on the mtx until i went to my reg dr and was cleared for those symptoms. So i went in to my reg dr and it was allergy eyes and my labs were normal. I have since found out that Prednisone can cause leg cramps which really irritated me. I went back to my rheumy the next week to start the mtx and was really upset by the way the appt went. I had been having some bad pain in my left elbow that would cause numbness and pain in my hand. most of my joint pain is a bad aching and i can handle it with tylenol but this pain is bad. feels like i hit my funny bone but worse. I asked my rheumy if there was anything i could take for this pain as tylenol just doesnt work and he was pretty ugly. He said that i was already on too many meds and that he was not gonna start me on narcotics at this point. I assured him that i did not just want narcotics but that i wanted to know that if the pain got really bad he would treat it and that this was nerve pain and it was bad. His answer was that i just needed to get started on the mtx and that if i keep bringing up these nuisance symptoms he would have to pull me off the mtx. i didnt think that pain from Ra was a nuisance symptom. I had my follow up appt with him yesterday after being on the mtx for four weeks and i asked him if i could start taking prilosec again as he had taken me off it when i quit taking mobic, because i was having heartburn every day since starting mtx, and he acted irritated again and said to start the prilosec and if it doesnt work in a week or so he will have to pull me off the mtx or put me on injection mtx, which he says he has only had one patient ever have to take inj. He treats me as if any symptom i bring up is an irritation. Am i being too sensitive? Is this true that very rarely do patients have to take inj mtx? i have an appt with a new rheumy but cant get in until march. Just wanted some opinions so i can handle this rheumy correctly.
Posted 12/31/2010 4:38 AM (GMT 0)
Holy Toledo!  What in the world could me wrong w/your rheumy?!?  rolleyes

I don't know how you kept from walking out on him, Cat. I think he is not very helpful, not to mention rude.  What do you think?

Maybe you should find another doctor.  You need a doc who will listen and work with you to control your joint damage and pain.  yeah   I'm not sure what your current doctor is trying to do.

V

Posted 12/31/2010 8:37 AM (GMT 0)
*whispers* Hot flashes, if you get that is also a "lovely" side effect of prednisone.

By law everyone is entitled a second medical opinion of any doctor. It can be as many "second" opinions as you wish
Posted 1/15/2011 2:47 AM (GMT 0)
He is extremely reluctant to provide relief, and possibly constricted due to misconceptions about narcotics, at the very least you need to ask him to prescribe tramadol, it's only a partial agonist so not really a narcotic in the true sense, and seems to be enough for many people. The 30/500 Co-codamol's (tylenol 3?) are also a good start.

Also, I would consider finding a more pro-active and open-minded physician.
Posted 1/15/2011 3:00 AM (GMT 0)
Tramadol is great for me but it sounds like you to need talk to your rhuemy-perhaps a DIFFERENT one about other options to provide more relief. You should be dealing with the inflamation very aggressively.
Posted 1/15/2011 3:30 AM (GMT 0)
also diclofenac, of outside of USA, arcoxia - both solid anti-inflammatories
Posted 3/5/2011 5:41 AM (GMT 0)
I've been wondering how cat's appmnt. went w/ the new rheumy ?
Posted 3/5/2011 1:51 PM (GMT 0)
I would find another rheumy quickly. I bet you actually dread your appointment and that just ain't right. You are paying for a service, your rheumy is uncaring and very unprofessional. A person seeing a rheumy has enough problems without the Dr. being one too. I describe a Dr. like that as having his/her head on backwards and there are many of them. If people can go to another one maybe the Dr.s would find they had lots more to for golf etc. and get mellowed out U know what I mean!
I Wish You The Best
Posted 3/5/2011 4:05 PM (GMT 0)
I agree you need a new rheumy fast. Did you get in to see someone else?
Posted 3/5/2011 5:00 PM (GMT 0)
Gosh, he sounds like a nut! You really need someone that is going to listen to your symptoms, especially pain! If he is unwilling to treat your pain, please get another opinion. I'm also sero-negative, but my rheumy is more than happy to fill my script for my pain medication anytime that I ask, most doctors recognize the pain of RA, I'm so sorry you didn't find a good rheumy the first time around. Also you may need plaquenil or a biologic thrown in for good measure until you find the right *cocktail* of meds.
Posted 3/5/2011 10:15 PM (GMT 0)
Cat,
I think you need a new Rhuemy. Schedule an app. with your pr. Dr. and get a new referral. Explain what you have said here. This sounds like my old Rhuemy who told me I only have FM and that I really needed to be happy with that. I have since found out I most likely have RA, I do have OA, and a torn rotator cuff. All complaints I had said to him. So I went an entire year that I could have been getting treatment. Meanwhile I am so much worse for having waited on my a** of a Rhuemy. Please don't take this abuse. You have hired him to provide service to you. A service you are not receiving. When you are taking all of the meds that you have to all symptoms are important and he should know that. You have a right to receive pain management as well as treatment to stop the arthritis. Please look into it. Take care and good luck, Heather :-)
Posted 3/7/2011 8:42 PM (GMT 0)
cat002, I just read your post and I am so upset in the way this Rheumy is treating you. If you can, at all possibility, change to another Rheumy. He is arrogant, insensitive and rude. You are not being too sensitive. You are telling him what your symptoms are and he should be there to support you and make necessary changes on meds as necessary even if he has to do this repeatedly. This is why he is the doctor not to insult you and call your symptoms a nuisance. Oh I am so upset w/ this rheumy. It is bad enough you are going through all of this. You don't need the added stress by your Rheumy. I have little patience for doctors who don't want to listen to their patients. They should not be in medicine, if they can't handle the symptoms. This is why so many symptoms go undiagnoses and untreated and the wrong meds are given to patients because of doctors like this one. I changed Rheumy's recently too. I had not as bad as this one, but he just would not listen to my symptoms. He looked at me and blamed everything on the Fibro. He wouldn't do labs, listen to my pain, but was real quick to give me any pain killer I wanted and this is not what I wanted. I started to feel uncomfortable everytime I had to see him so I switch. The new Rheumy sits down, listens to me and asks at every single visit any new symptoms, anything else we should discuss, etc. So far he is great. Good luck to you and hope you feel a bit better than the last time you wrote this note. God Bless. Simplistic007
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